Society's Child

France: Student pilot jumps from his plane 100 meters over the ocean, survival considered unlikely

AirLive
Wed, 25 Aug 2021 21:19 UTC

Student of a training flight apparently jumped from a small private plane in mid-flight over the ocean, near coast in France.

The pilot instructor made an emergency landing on a beach in France on Tuesday August 24, after a student pilot jumped from the aircraft in flight.

The 32-year-old man apparently jumped from the plane when it was between 60 and 100 meters above the ocean.

Two hypotheses are considered by the investigators: the suicide of the student pilot or a technical problem with the aircraft.

After such a fall, the chances of finding him alive are almost nonexistent.

Significant resources were deployed to find this missing co-pilot offshore, two helicopters and two SNSM speedboats roamed the area all evening.

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Reader Comments

Rowan Cocoan · 2021-08-25T21:46:13Z

Well, he was probably going at least 100 mph. That won't help the impact either. At 65 yards without that additional vector, you hit the water at 76.38 mph. Angled impact but once you're at speed, that water, which is relatively incompressible, feels like soft concrete. I've jumped from about ~35 feet (once) under a bridge around here. Have to point your toes and hold your nose. Really a stupid thing to do.

Article is typical BFM: Why did the teacher pilot land it on the beach? No mention. How the hell could the student pilot hop out of the thing?

Sounds like suicide.

RC

HashAttack2 · 2021-08-26T14:36:51Z

Rowan Cocoan He could have been claustrophobic and had a panic attack ... it certainly doesn't sound like a "technical problem" unless he was in an ejector seat

Neizvestno · 2021-08-27T06:06:37Z

Rowan Cocoan Instructor was probably a bit freaked out by the student jumping out... I doubt there's established procedure for that scenario... I imagine there'd have been a tussel as the student tried to get out? It's not like you can just step out casually without it being obvious you're about to do something strange.

Maybe he didn't jump, maybe some sort of anomaly displaced him from the plane... I'd be landing asap in that case, and it'd be a hard one to explain...

Rowan Cocoan · 2021-08-27T08:56:31Z

Neizvestno See the article I found infra. It removes need for a lot of the speculation - but not all.

RC

DeliciousTears · 2021-08-25T22:51:46Z

What a strange article... The pilot landed the plane on the beach, ergo we'd know if there was some kind of severe mechanical problem eh? There should be no mystery....

In ancient history there were these people known as journalists or reporters.

Rodney Tuxedo · 2021-08-25T23:48:41Z

I had a client that used to fly tourists over the grand canyon in the early 80s i believe. He quit after dealing with several people using that opportunity to commit suicide. Wild stuff.

Good Optics · 2021-08-25T23:58:54Z

Rodney Tuxedo I had a client that used to fly tourists over the grand canyon in the early 80s

God. " . . . several people . . . " that's quite a tragedy. All things being equal, I think maybe I'd have been gone after the first one. Can you imagine how distracted you'd be after that . . . And flying a small-ish plane, how do you prevent someone bent on jumping from doing so ?

Rowan Cocoan · 2021-08-26T00:03:23Z

Rodney Tuxedo People who would do that are scum. At the Grand Canyon there's plenty of places to hop by yourself without endangering or traumatizing others.

RC

G.O. And flying a small-ish plane, how do you prevent someone bent on jumping from doing so ?

Shoot 'em.

rc

Good Optics · 2021-08-26T00:08:05Z

Rowan Cocoan

Shoot 'em.

And cause yourself hearing damage in the process.

HVACTech · 2021-08-26T00:12:20Z

Good Optics drama queen.

Rowan Cocoan · 2021-08-26T00:26:26Z

Good Optics Suppressor.

RC

azigzagidiot · 2021-08-26T01:00:33Z

Rodney Tuxedo Jeez Louise, what?

..

A lit bit of what added to make Ben's rice dirty and they could think to make a clean, chintzy-er way out.

Article kind of sounds like the Pilot "flunked", or kerplunked, the student... I appreciate the physics description supra^.

Rodney Tuxedo · 2021-08-28T21:49:57Z

Good Optics no kidding. Id be done after the first one. It was actually a helicopter that he flew them in. He told me the final straw was a guy with his wife and kids. Hard to imagine being that selfish.

Rowan Cocoan · 2021-08-28T22:02:53Z

Rodney Tuxedo Amazing! The whole helicopter makes more sense. (I was envisioning something like the article.) How insane and evil. Take your kids? EVIL!

As I noted above, there's simply no reason to have done that there - there are countless FREE ways to commit suicide there; at places it can get hard to avoid.

I still have a picture of me crawled out past the preventative fencing (back in the 80s) on the north rim on this huge dusty boulder that was like a sphere and I spider crawled, butt, hands and feet, all five, glued to this fucker. Another ten feet and it was a thousand easy. We all did a version of it, but I went >20 feet past anyone else. Stupid kids.

RC

Good Optics · 2021-08-28T22:55:23Z

Rodney Tuxedo

He told me the final straw was a guy with his wife and kids.

So he jumped and they got to watch him fall, how to fuck up everyone else for a lifetime

Heosphorus ·

Was he vaxxed?

· 2021-08-26T02:07:47Z

Rowan Cocoan · 2021-08-26T02:21:24Z

Heosphorus Looks like he opted for the expedited treatment.

At least if it was a suicide, he didn't take others out, contra this asshole: [Link]
RC

Demore · 2021-08-26T02:45:20Z

Heosphorus ''Was he vaxxed?''

It had to come up...

Tsidkenu · 2021-08-26T05:25:21Z

Heosphorus Definitely a COVID death.

Rowan Cocoan · 2021-08-26T06:24:07Z

Tsidkenu I would say no, but he was carrying a stolen microwave oven, so yes.

RC

HashAttack2 · 2021-08-26T14:39:53Z

I've always questioned why the lesson about staying in the plane isn't until after the 3rd flight

Rowan Cocoan · 2021-08-26T14:47:39Z

HashAttack2 Well, was this his first student flight? Typical BFM BS. We don't get ANY reasonable information.

RC

HashAttack2 · 2021-08-26T14:49:09Z

Rowan Cocoan I had assumed it was his first flight, but maybe he had a trial run first ... glad I left myself leeway with the 3rd lesson

Rowan Cocoan · 2021-08-26T14:59:54Z

HashAttack2 See infra: It WAS his first flight. BFM says he was trying to both crash the plane into the sea AND into a seaside resort. (Planning on skipping it like a skimming stone? Off the ocean and into the lobby? )

But at least it's more than the above.

RC

Rowan Cocoan · 2021-08-26T14:50:20Z

Here we go folks (all I found yesterday was the above article P.O.S.)

The Times and The Sunday Times

Trainee pilot tried to crash plane into seaside resort Charles BremnerThursday August 26 2021, 12.01am BST, The Times

The instructor landed the single-engine Piper on the beach beside a military missile testing establishment at Biscarrosse on the Bay of BiscayALAMY A flying instructor fought off a trainee who tried to take control of a small aircraft and crash it into the sea off southwest France. Moments later, the trainee jumped to his death.The 62-year-old instructor, a former Air France pilot, landed the single-engine Piper on the beach beside a military missile testing establishment at Biscarrosse on the Bay of Biscay .

The body of the 32-year-old student pilot was found yesterday morning, 16 hours after he seized the controls on a flight from a local aerodrome, Olivier Janson, the area prosecutor said.The struggle started after the student, who has not been named and was having his first lesson, appeared to suffer “a delusional episode” and said he wanted to crash the aircraft, the prosecutor . . . [Link]

BFM still rules: tried to crash it into the sea or into a seaside resort?

Meanwhile, I managed to find a less informative article. (Hard to believe but there it is:

Student pilot reported missing - A student pilot has been reported missing after the plane he was travelling in made an emergency landing on a beach of Biscarrosse in southwestern France. According to emergency services the plane landed at around 17:30 on Tuesday afternoon, on a beach located on a military site. The pilot was unharmed while the whereabouts of the student remains unknown. He had jumped from the aircraft ahead of its landing. [Link]

R.C.

HashAttack2 · 2021-08-26T15:26:58Z

Rowan Cocoan That all makes even less sense! - Did he seize the controls or just try to?

after he seized the controls / fought off a trainee who tried to take control

Was there a fight in the cockpit, did the pilot subdue and tie up the trainee before he jumped

Doesn't seem to be any reason to rule out murder as another possibility

Rowan Cocoan · 2021-08-26T16:19:44Z

HashAttack2 As I recall/guess, there's usually two sets of controls in those things.

DT: You're dead right!

RC

azigzagidiot · 2021-08-29T17:26:23Z

Rowan Cocoan Thanks for sourcing the better article, which is written a day later after they'd talked to the pilot.

Don't suppose there's anything about the missile base nearby that had it involved.

Rowan Cocoan · 2021-08-29T17:40:43Z

azigzagidiot Good point! Maybe the Haji* was trying to crash the plane there.

*Presumption. As obliquely questioned by a certain non-PC sort, infra.

RC

azigzagidiot · 2021-08-29T20:23:24Z

Rowan Cocoan Moor-st likely an Algerian one, en Francais?

Although, without borders these days, who knows.

Infra Int r us Supra.

Semper ubi sub ubi.

DeliciousTears · 2021-08-26T15:44:24Z

I'd wager there's a certain ethnic/religious profile here of the student that doesn't fit the official narrative.... Hence the silence....

azigzagidiot · 2021-08-29T17:28:53Z

DeliciousTears Male, and enmeshed in grid.

What more needs to be said?

DeliciousTears · 2021-08-29T18:49:40Z

azigzagidiot Could be, although now since we know it was a suicide from the pilot there could be a million reasons...

azigzagidiot · 2021-08-29T20:30:38Z

DeliciousTears Hah, pilot's account may leave out his escorting him out. Sounds like the best outcome

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France: Student pilot jumps from his plane 100 meters over the ocean, survival considered unlikely

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